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B. A. Prakash is a former Professor and Head, Department of Economics, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier, he was a professor in the Department of Economics, University of Calicut, Kerala, where he had been teaching since 1976. After retirement from the University, he was appointed as chairman of Kerala Public Expenditure Review Committee for three years by the Government of Kerala. Professor Prakash has been conducting research on different topics relating to Kerala’s economic development during the last four decades and published a number of papers in leading journals, research reports and monographs. One topic in which he did research is on decentralization and local governance in Kerala. He has authored two research studies sponsored by 3rd State Finance Commission of Kerala and National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad. During the tenure as chairman of the 5th SFC (2015–2016), he got an opportunity to conduct in-depth study on the finances of local governments and the fiscal decentralization experience of Kerala. This monograph is the outcome of his research on decentralization. Professor Prakash has edited two books on Indian economy examining the economic reforms and performance since 1991 and published in 2009 and 2012. He has also edited four books on Kerala’s economic development, covering the development of the state economy since its formation and up to 2018 and published by SAGE in 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2018.